Affordable Housing and Homeless Prevention grants

Posted by on December 8, 2006

The Philadelphia Office of Housing and Community Development (OHCD) has released two Request for Proposals for the Philadelphia Housing Trust Fund:

1. Affordable Housing Development ($6.735 million)
Mandatory Briefing: 10:00 a.m., Monday, December 18, 2006 @ OHCD
Proposal Deadline: 4:00 p.m., Friday, January 19, 2007

2. Homeless Prevention: Rental Assistance for Households Currently in Transitional Housing ($1 million)

Briefing: 2:00 p.m., Thursday, December 14, 2006
Proposal Deadline: 4:00 p.m., Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Below is a brief summary of the two RFPs. A complete copy of the RFPs can be downloaded from the OHCD web site at:

<a href="http://www.phila.gov/ohcd/RFPS.htm">http://www.phila.gov/ohcd/RFPS.htm</a>

1. Affordable Housing Development ($6.735 million)
Mandatory Briefing: 10:00 a.m., Monday, December 18, 2006 @ OHCD
Proposal Deadline: 4:00 p.m., Friday, January 19, 2007

The Office of Housing and Community Development (OHCD) is soliciting proposals to finance the development of rental and homeownership units designed to serve low-, moderate-, and middle-income Philadelphia residents, using funding from the Philadelphia Housing Trust Fund.

A total of $6.735 million in City Fiscal Year 2007 Housing Trust Fund dollars is available through this Request for Proposals:

* $500,000 to support Neighborhood-Based Homeownership
* $2,500,000 to support New Construction Homeownership
* $3,735,000 million to support Neighborhood-Based Rental Housing

Projects seeking assistance from this RFP must meet the legal requirements of the HTF, including:

* Development by a non-profit organization, or a joint venture in which a non-profit organization is the controlling partner, and can demonstrate capacity. No funding will be provided for a project sponsored by a non-profit entity that is controlled by either a for-profit or by a public entity.
* Adherence to the ?Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Requirements and OHCD Policies? set forth in the Year 32 Consolidated Plan.
* Meeting the accessibility and visitability requirements of the HTF as defined in local ordinance and the Mayor?s Executive Order.
* Meeting the requirement that households benefiting from the housing development pay no more than 30% of their income for housing, unless allowed by another federal or state funding source.
* Serving households with a maximum income of 115% of area median income. (Proposals serving households at or below 30% of AMI will be given priority.)

Briefing Session
Interested parties are REQUIRED to attend a briefing session:

Monday, December 18, 2006, 10:00 a.m.
OHCD Board Room
1234 Market St., 17th floor
Philadelphia, PA 19107

Proposal Submission

Proposals must be delivered to OHCD no later than 4:00 p.m. on Friday, January 19, 2007.

2. Homeless Prevention: Rental Assistance for Households Currently in Transitional Housing ($1 million)

Briefing: 2:00 pm, Thursday, December 14, 2006
Proposal Deadline: 4:00 pm, Wednesday, January 17, 2007

The Office of Housing and Community Development (OHCD) is seeking a non-profit Housing Provider to administer a rental assistance program funded with the Housing Trust Fund. The purpose of the program is to provide permanent housing for up to three years to households or families who are currently residing in transitional housing. The selected Housing Provider will contract with OHCD to administer the program.

A total of $1,000,000 is available for rental assistance payments, program delivery costs and administrative costs over three years. With these funds, OHCD expects to provide rental assistance payments to approximately 40 households. Eligible households are those currently living in homeless transitional housing who are able to live independently, but who require a subsidy to afford rental housing. It is anticipated that at the end of three years of rental assistance, these households will be able to pay for their own housing, either by continuing the rental unit for which assistance had been provided, by moving into a unit owned by the Philadelphia Housing Authority, or by securing other housing.

This tenant-based rental assistance is designed to model the Section 8 (Housing Choice) program, which pays to a landlord the difference between fair market rent (including utilities) and 30% of the beneficiary?s monthly income. Tenant-based rental assistance is assigned to a specific person or household, which may then use the assistance to rent an apartment or dwelling unit on his/her own. One source of rental units may be developments built using the Low Income Housing Tax Credit which have vacancies. The responsibility for locating an appropriate unit rests with the client. Clients will continue to receive case management through the Office of Supportive Housing.

Briefing Session

Prospective applicants are encouraged to attend a briefing session:

Thursday, December 14, 2006, 2:00 p.m.
OHCD Board Room
1234 Market St., 17th floor
Philadelphia, PA 19107

Proposal Submission
Proposals are due at OHCD on or before Wednesday, January 17 at 4:00 p.m.